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Reigning Columbia County football player of the year Stephen Houzah plays his first collegiate game in a few weeks for the Mercer Bears. Houzah was terrific during his entire career at Lakeside, but especially his senior campaign.

The Augusta Warriors 8A baseball team was formed less than a year ago when they held their opening tryout last fall.

Only 10 players showed up, but rather than getting discouraged, they kept every player and went to work. According to Head Coach Brad Raycroft, they added another player this spring and quickly won their first two Machine Pitch tournaments and 12 consecutive games. Following the early success, the squad transitioned into Kid Pitch and showed no ill effects from the move, as they rose to the No. 1 spot in the Georgia 8U rankings.

Each year we select the All-County Football Team, and while there are always plenty of seniors on the team, I cannot remember a year like last season.

Of the 28 players who earned First Team All-County honors in 2014, 24 were graduating seniors. That means only four players from the First Team return in 2015 and that is easily the smallest number of returnees in my the nearly 20 years I have covered Columbia County.

WJBF News Channel 6 recently released its Game Night Live Schedule for 2015, and teams from Columbia County will be involved in five of the first eight games.

Now in its fifth year, the producers of Game Night Live put a great deal of thought into the schedule in an attempt to get the premier rivalries, top players and best atmospheres for high school football. There will be a total of 12 games this season and Columbia County teams will be featured in five of the first eight weeks.

Brothers Jake and Nick Sandlin’s impressive play on the diamond has earned them plenty of recognition over the last couple of years.

Nick, who led Greenbrier High School to the Class AAAAA state title this spring, used his side-arming motion to mow batters down at an incredible rate over the last two years.

His finished his final two seasons 24-2 on the mound with a 1.21 ERA and 211 strikeouts in 158.2 innings. He was also outstanding at second base and with the bat. For his efforts, Sandlin was named the Columbia County Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons.

This week youth football players will get the opportunity to learn, while top high school players will test their skills in a pair of events. First, it’s the Lakeside High School Panther Youth Football Camp, which will be held Monday through Wednesday (July 13-15) and is open to kindergarten-eighth graders. The camp will be held at Lakeside High School from 5:30-7:30 each afternoon. Campers will get individual offensive and defensive instruction, be able to tour the weight room and stadium, and take part in skills competitions.

I was all set to enjoy three more years of the hardwood talent of Augusta Christian forward Isaiah Kelly when I got word a few days back that he will be playing elsewhere next year. The 6-7 standout will be suiting up for Pace Academy in Atlanta next season.

Kelly, the county’s best player, averaged 16.2 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.4 steals last season as a freshman.

West Lake Country Club played host to the 50th Georgia Junior Golf Championship earlier this week.

The event, which is sanctioned by the Georgia State Golf Association, decides the state’s Junior Champion each year. Unfortunately for the local contingent a buzzsaw named S.M. Lee blew through town and dominated the event.

The Buford native blistered the course for an event-record 63 in the opening round and never let up in route to an eight-shot win.

On Saturday, play got underway in the The Press Thornton Future Masters in Dothan, Ala. The event was founded in 1950 and has become one of the premier youth golf events in the country. The list of past participants who have gone on to play on the PGA tour is simply too long to give, but it includes Curtis Strange, Bubba Watson, Stewart Cink and Charles Howell.